Renzong, Wade-Giles romanization Jen-tsung, personal name (xingming) Zhao Zhen (born 1010, China—died 1063, China) temple name (miaohao) of the fourth emperor (reigned 1022–63) of the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China, one of the most able and humane rulers in Chinese history. Under him the Song government is generally believed to have come closer than ever before to reaching the Confucian ideal of just government.

During his reign, two political and philosophical groups developed into factions that bitterly disputed each other’s policies as well as interpretations of the Confucian Classics. This led to the great disputes in later reigns between the conservatives and the reformers and prevented the development of solutions to the vast problems that began to confront the Song after Renzong.

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(960–1279), Chinese dynasty that ruled the country during one of its most brilliant cultural epochs. It is commonly divided into Bei (Northern) and Nan (Southern) Song periods, as the dynasty ruled only in South China after 1127.

After the emperor’s death, friction arose between his widow—the empress dowager, who was acting as regent—and Renzong (reigned 1022–63), Zhenzong’s teenage son by a palace lady of humble rank. Following the death of the empress dowager, Renzong divorced his empress, who had been chosen for him by and had remained in sympathy with the empress dowager. However, the divorce was...